Dan's Complete S52 Experience Thread: Swap, Rebuild, Drag, Autocross, etc

[mohaughn]

I didn't even notice the thread went from a red Ti to just showing pictures of a rebuild on a white E30. Thanks for pointing that out..

[dahamler]

Well I always knew that this car had some rust issues but I thought that I would eventually buy another shell. I've been looking for a white 1995 Ti in good condition but its much harder than I thought.

So I pulled the old Ox into that garage and started to look at the extent of the damage; here is what I found:

[dahamler]

[dahamler]

Trick tool #27: KETT Pneumatic Power Shears P-500

These do take away some of the material but they cut straight and true. These will payoff big time when I make my cardboard template for the sheet metal replacement.

[cooljess76]

They do sell the rocker panels at tischer and pelican, but you don't even want to know how much they cost, lol. Perhaps you could find someone parting out an e36 locally and go to town with your shears. Just a thought, might save you some pain staking measuring and fab work. I'm gonna be doing something similar in the near future. My car has rust under the tailights and on the rear wheel arches

[dahamler]

Originally Posted by cooljess76

They do sell the rocker panels at tischer and pelican, but you don't even want to know how much they cost, lol. Perhaps you could find someone parting out an e36 locally and go to town with your shears. Just a thought, might save you some pain staking measuring and fab work. I'm gonna be doing something similar in the near future. My car has rust under the tailights and on the rear wheel arches

Was this a Cali car all its life. If that's the case I won't even bother with looking for a new shell!

[cooljess76]

Originally Posted by dahamler

Was this a Cali car all its life. If that's the case I won't even bother with looking for a new shell!

Nah, my car came from Michigan. There was literally rust stains dripping down the black paint on my doors and rear quarter panel from the inner metal frame of the side moldings. I'm getting that flaking rust under the tailights. Unfortunately I don't think I could just grind and fill it, it's gonna need some new metal. I know back east just about everything that isn't stored indoors during the winter will have rust, but perhaps you'll get lucky and find something. Wish I would've known about your car prior to scrapping my M3 shell. I would've been happy to cut some pieces off for ya.

[dahamler]

At first when I looked at the rust I felt that it was time to take the old girl behind the shed and retire the chassis, I even purchased a replacement chassis from FL that is 100% rust free.



But the more and more I thought about it the harder it was to let her go. This car represents so much more that the sum of its parts. The track and build memories are much more important than cosmetic appeal. I know some of you may disagree but I know for a fact that I would regret selling it.
I've owned over 50 cars in my life and I have only felt this way about 3 others.

1993 SE-R with a SR20DET
1993 240sx with a SR20DET
1987 Civic SI with a D16 (first swapped car)

Anyway I decided to use a few new products to save my girl and they worked much better than expected!

http://youtu.be/HPY22hMSCI4